英國計劃對中老年人徵收'年齡稅'大綱
The middle-aged and over 65s in the UK may soon be taxed to cover the cost of their later life care if proposals are given the go ahead.
如果相關提案獲得政府批准的話，英國中年人及65歲以上的老年人，可能很快就要繳稅以支付自己晚年生活護理的費用了。
Matt Hancock, the Health and Social Care Secretary, said he was "attracted to" a cross-party plan for a compulsory premium deducted from the earnings of over 40s and over 65s.
英國衛生及社會保障大臣馬特·漢考克表示，他“很有興趣”達成一項跨黨派計劃，從40歲以上以及65歲以上人羣的收入中強制性扣除保險費。
Hancock's comments suggest that the scheme will be discussed by Parliament and published by Christmas as one of their Green Paper proposals.
漢考克的話暗示，該計劃將提交議會討論，在聖誕節前作爲衛生及社會保障綠皮書的提案之一發布。
The proposal is based on the German healthcare system where all workers over 40 pay 2.5% of their wages into a pot formally reserved for social care.
該提案是基於德國的護理制度提出的，德國所有40歲以上的勞動者都需向一個社保資金池繳納2.5%的收入。
Mr Hancock told The Sunday Telegraph: "One of the reasons I'm attracted to the proposal is that it's cross party."
漢考克向《星期日電訊報》透露：“我對這一提案很感興趣，是因爲它是跨黨派的”
"This is a problem which can only be solved by people coming together behind a solution, because as soon as it's turned into a political football it makes it extremely difficult to make any progress at all."
“這是一個只有人們團結起來才能解決的問題，因爲一旦它變成了一個政治難題，就很難取得任何進展。”
"I'm prepared to have a range of options and see if we can build a consensus around one of them."
“我已經準備好了一系列的選項，看看我們能不能就其中一個達成共識。”
